#Review: Greta

Greta is a bonkers film about a bonkers character which has a load of issues, but one that is a ton of fun.

Direction

Narrative

Acting

Cinematography

Score

2019-04-16

3.0Overall Score

Reader Rating: (0 Votes)

Greta is a psychological thriller from director Neil Jordan which stars Isabelle Huppert and Chloë Grace Moretz. It follows Frances (Moretz) a young waitress in New York who happens across a handbag on a train she is on one day. She gets home to her roommate Erica (Maika Monroe) and after they argue what to do with the handbag Frances decides to return it in person to its owner. This is where Frances and the audience meet Greta (Isabelle Huppert).

She is a seemingly charming woman, she connects with her white knight quickly and Frances and her strike up a friendship quite quickly. This is down to Frances missing her recently passed mother and Greta missing her daughter. Erica finds it odd but Frances sees it as harmless and therapeutic for both parties involved. Events take a dark twist however and Frances may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Do you remember the 90s’? Neil Jordan hopes you don’t because Greta is a film about people who have never seen a horror or a psychological thriller which was a theme many films in this genre had back in the 90s’.

Audiences are far savvier now than I think they were two decades ago and so when Frances finds a large collection of handbags within Greta’s home with names on them there are immediate red flags yet Frances doesn’t go far enough in distancing herself from Greta.

She calls the cops but they do nothing, she doesn’t call her dad at any point explaining the situation and asking for help. The story tries to explain it away with a vague and poorly explored relationship between the father and daughter but it’s excruciatingly dull and unemotional.

This is not the highest level of idiocy but to go into that would be to spoil some of the decisions characters make in the third act of the film.

You are probably wondering at this point why such a high score for what seems to be one of the stupidest and poorly written films I’ve seen in the last couple of months? It’s simple really, two words – Isabelle Huppert.

Isabelle Huppert the titular Greta is a force of nature. She is incredible. She’s charming, she’s unnerving, and then she’s cold as ice within one single scene. She is clearly having a ball as she is ripping apart the scenery with her teeth. Her many exploits across the film will be spoken about for many years to come. A particular favourite of mine involves her, Stephen Rea and a dance routine.

Chloë Grace Moretz is given the unenviable task of being the straight man in this duo and with that comes some deeply cringe-worthy acting. This is a real shame because Moretz is usually a highlight but the role of Frances is a thankless job.

Greta is nuts. Both the film and the character that shares the name. It’s cliché ridden, has a ton of issues but at the end of the day I enjoyed myself and everyone who saw it with me did as well. It started a conversation among us and we all had a good laugh with this bonkers film about this bonkers character.